[General] revenge/avenge

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to give me some help concerning the interpretation of the verbs “revenge” and “avenge”.
The dog wanted to revenge himself upon the beetle.
Hamlet swore to avenge his father’s death.
Tom Sowyer was afraid that Injun Joe would revenge himself on him for his testimony at the trial.
Tom revenged himself upon Sid by beating him soundly.

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

 

[isedehi]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to give me some help concerning the interpretation of the verbs “revenge” and “avenge”.
The dog wanted to revenge himself upon the beetle.
Hamlet swore to avenge his father’s death.
Tom Sowyer was afraid that Injun Joe would revenge himself on him for his testimony at the trial.
Tom revenged himself upon Sid by beating him soundly.

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

According to my observation over the years, avenge is used in literary works while revenge is used in the ordinary sense.

 

[Searching for language]

And I thought that revenge is a noun and avenge is a verb!

He sought revenge for the senseless death of his daughter.
He avenged his daughter's senseless death by taking the killers to court, and having them sentenced to life in prison.

 

[Barb_D]

Me too.

 

[Abstract Idea]

He sought revenge for the senseless death of his daughter.
He avenged his daughter's senseless death by taking the killers to court, and having them sentenced to life in prison.

In your second example, could "avenged" be substituted by "revenged" with the same meaning?

 

[tedtmc]

In your second example, could "avenged" be substituted by "revenged" with the same meaning?

Didn't realise that 'revenge' can be used as a verb as well.
I guess 'avenged' and 'revenged' can be used interchangeably then.

not a teacher

 

[vil]

Thank you for your co-operation.

And yet:
revenge tr.v., -venged, -veng·ing, -veng·es.

1. To inflict punishment in return for (injury or insult).
2. To seek or take vengeance for (oneself or another person); avenge.

I would prefer to call a spade a spade.

Regards,

V.

 

[Barb_D]

I think you will find that many native speakers will see "avenge" as the preferred verb, and consider "revenge" more suitable as a noun.

There is a difference between using words incorrectly and using them in unexpected ways.

(I don't see this as an issue of not wanting to cal a spade a spade - no one is hinting that one of the words is "nicer" or hides the meaning. There's no euphemism being used to make something appear better than it is. )